Pho York — Restaurant in Great Britain

I visited Pho York for lunch yesterday before heading to the theatre, and I have mixed feelings about the experience.

I made a reservation online to secure our seats, which I thought would ensure a smooth visit. We ordered a kid's menu with Cari chicken rice and a coconut water, along with shared salt & pepper squid and a bowl of pho with brisket. I opted for an apple, lime, and ginger juice.

Food Quality: The adult menu had some standout dishes. The salt & pepper squid was truly flavorful, and the bone broth in the pho was excellent, with genuinely Vietnamese herbs. However, while the brisket was decent, the noodles fell short of my expectations; they weren't the silky soft texture I had hoped for. As for the Cari chicken rice, the rice was good quality, but the curry sauce reminded me too much of what you'd find at a cheap Chinese takeaway. Unfortunately, my son left most of his dish untouched.

Drinks: The juice was fresh, balanced, and refreshing—definitely a highlight of the meal.

Service: The service, however, was hit or miss. We were seated in a corner, making it incredibly challenging to get the staff's attention. It took ages to place our order, though the server was friendly. The wait for our starter to be cleared and the mains to arrive felt excessive, especially since we had a matinee show to catch. On a busy Saturday lunch, it was surprising that only one server and one person were bringing food. This clearly isn't enough manpower for a touristy spot like York in the summer.

Service Charge: The most disappointing part was when the bill arrived with a 12.5% service charge added. Given the level of service, I felt compelled to ask the server to remove it. I can imagine many patrons would feel embarrassed to do the same. If Pho York aims to charge such a service fee, their service standards need to match that of a five-star establishment to justify it.

Overall, while the food had its highlights, the service and the added charge left a sour taste in my mouth. I hope they can improve in these areas, as there’s potential for a great...

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon I drifted into this 'pho', the aesthetic of the outside reminded me of my homeland - Bolton, Manchester. I was greeted and sat by a distinguished waiteress who called me 'darling' more times than I was comfortable with, but that's just customer service baby -- I know the game, and I admire the hustle. For a drink, I papurchased a succulent pineapple & spinach juice, then I ordered and dug into some Pho Xao Chicken, which was quite delightful; even if my potato-like westerner fingers took a while to get used to using chopsticks.

While I engorged this delicious meal, I listened hesitantly to the conversation of two young uni students, who were also women -- they were discussing how to tell their friend that her boyfriend was cheating on her. I was tempted to hit them with a "mmmm, tell that poor girl to wake up and break up" but then I realised I am a 23 year old man who graduated university myself two years ago, and these were obviously freshers. So I withheld my wise guidance.

When I had finished, a different waitress brought me the bill, she was nice and probably felt obligated to smile at my obligatory small talk as I paid, she certainly earned the £2.52 service charge -- I liked her hairstyle and outfit, not very Vietnamese but we are in the North of England so I didn't mind... I certainly wasn't... Hanoi'd about it.

And now as I sit and write this review while drinking my tap water, and the same waitress waits for me to leave so she can clean my table, I feel a surge of energy from the carbohydrates in my noodles, I feel satiated not just with this meal, but with my life -- maybe tonight I'll go for a long walk and ponder about the universe and what kind of man I want to be.

So with all that in mind, I give 'Pho'...

A group of 3 of us visited on a very busy evening, as walk-in's I was not expecting to be seated at all however a table was miraculously and very quickly located for us. All the staff were extremely friendly and working very hard. We ordered 2 pho, a vietnamese salad and spring rolls along with an iced vietnamese coffee and a couple of beers. Although service was exceptional, the food was very disappointing and the dining space really cramped. The pho were presented beautifully but both lacked any depth of flavour. The salad was completely devoid of any flavour, was dry and sad. The three of us set about trying to make the food more palatable by adding very generous helpings of the table condiments, along with a big bowl of Thai chilliesour waitress kindly brought for us after seeing our disappointment. The vietnamese iced coffee was also sub par, which out of everything we ordered is the item I cannot fathom how it could've been so poor. The spring rolls were absolutely delicious and the beer was good. We paid in full only because the service was so good (our waitress was very upset by the fact the food was so poor and was continually apologising) but we will not be returning as unfortunately what we were served that evening was so far removed from authentic Vietnamese food, we may as well have gone...